OCT  I 2 '62 


Strm  onf 

'Ll  THE  GOSPEL  METHOD  OF  EVANGELIZATION. 


A SERMON 


PREACHED  BEFORE  THE 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION, 


AT  TIIE 


ANNUAL  MEETING 

IN  TUE 


UNION  CHURCH,  WORCESTER,  MASS., 
SEPTEMBER  28TH,  1853. 


RE Y.  PROF.  HENRY  E.JECK, 

OBERIIX,  OHIO. 


Ncro-'Scrlx: 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION,  48  BEEKMAN  STREET. 

PRINTED  BY  JOHN  A.  GRAY,  95  A 97  CUFF,  CORNER  OF  FRANKFORT  STREET. 

1 8 5 3. 


8 E II  M 0 N 


THE  GOSrEL  METHOD  OF  EVANGELIZATION. 

1 Cor.  ix.  22. 

“I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I might  by  all  means  save  some.” 
fHntt.  iv.  8,  9,  10. 

“Again  the  devil  taketh  him  up  into  an  exceeding  high  mountain,  and  showeth  him 
all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them ; and  saith  unto  him,  All 
these  things  will  I give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me.  Then  saith 
Jesus  unto  him,  Get  thee  hence,  Satan ; for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the 
Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve.” 

Evert  institution,  w hether  social,  political,  or  religious,  has  an  animus, 
a spirit,  a something  which  makes  it,  as  the  case  may  he,  useful  or  dan- 
gerous, worthy  of  affection,  or  deserving  of  reprobation. 

Of  no  institution,  and  of  no  class  of  institutions,  is  this  more  true  than 
it  is  of  those  which  are  designed  for  the  propagation  of  religion.  Men  do 
not  undertake  to  disseminate  their  religious  sentiments  orprinciples  without 
being  animated  by  a spirit  which  communicates  itself  to,  and  appears  in 
the  organization  or  institution  through  which  their  endeavors  find  a 
channel. 

The  Society  of  the  Jesuits  has  a character  as  discernible  as  is  that  of 
any  brother  who  wears  the  habit  of  the  order.  The  American  Missionary 
Association  has  a spirit  as  characteristic,  and  as  easily  known,  as  is  that 
of  any  person  who  has  come  here  to  express  an  interest  in  its  concerns. 
The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  has  a cha- 
racter as  evident  to  observation  as  is  that  of  any  officer  who  conducts  or 
of  any  member  who  promotes  its  affairs. 

Now,  the  animus  or  spirit  of  an  institution  or  organization  is  more 
apparent  in  the  policy  pursued  in  its  operations  than  in  any  thing  else — 


4 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


more  even  than  in  its  most  solemn  professions.  Know  the  mode,  the 
method  by  which,  for  instance,  missionary  associations  perform  their  work, 
and  you  know  the  character,  the  soul  of  the  Societies  themselves.  Let 
such  an  institution  prove  itself  cunning  and  crafty  in  the  accomplishment 
of  its  purpose,  and  though  it  may  call  itself  “the  Society  of  Jesus,”  and 
assert  that  it  embodies  the  guilelessness  of  Christianity,  it  is  known  to  be 
corrupt,  and  its  name  becomes,  in  public  esteem,  the  synonym  for  what- 
ever is  hateful  and  dangerous.  But  let  it  in  its  public  policy  be  honest, 
straight-forward,  and  truthful,  and  worthiness  of  character  is  ascribed  to  it 
by  all  who  candidly  observe  it. 

And  to  pass  to  another  point,  it  may  be  said  that  as  the  spirit  or 
animus  of  an  institution  is  indicated , so  is  it  influenced  by  the  policy  or 
method  it  observes  in  accomplishing  its  purpose.  An  institution  may 
have  in  its  beginning  a commendable  spirit;  but,  required  to  take  up  a 
certain  line  of  policy,  it  may  push  that  policy  to  such  an  extreme,  or  so 
maintain  it  in  the  face  of  evident  indications  that  God  would  have  the 
once  useful  method  abandoned,  as  to  suffer  an  entire  loss  of  the  character 
which,  in  its  better  day,  made  it  worthy  of  praise.  Many,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  have  been  and  are  the  institutions  which  have  descended  to  a fear- 
ful degeneracy  of  character,  through  incautiousness  in  taking  up  policy 
which  has  reacted  on  and  destroyed  the  laudable  purpose  it  was  intended 
to  execute. 

If  these,  then,  are  the  relations  of  the  policy  of  institutions  to  their 
standing  before  the  public  and  to  their  actual  character  or  spirit,  what 
topic  can  more  properly  ask  the  attention  of  those  who  convene  to  inves- 
tigate the  affairs  of,  and  pray  for,  a missionary  enterprise,  than  one  which 
has  respect  to  the  method  to  be  observed  in  the  propagation  of  religious 
truth  ? 

In  this  question  I have  hinted  my  design  in  setting  before  you  the 
passages  of  the  Scriptures  which  I have  just  read ; but  I may  properly 
express  my  purpose  more  distinctly  by  saying  that  I propose  to  look  to 
these  texts  for  indications  of  the  material  points  of  policy  to  re 

REGARDED,  WHETHER  BT  INDIVIDUALS  OR  BY  INSTITUTIONS,  IN  TIIE  PROPA- 
GATION OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

Following  this  purpose,  then,  I ask  you  to  join  me  in  looking,  I.  At 
the  indications  with  respect  to  one  aspect  of  the  true  method  of  evangeliza- 
tion which  the  first  of  our  texts  sets  forth  ; for  I may  say  here  that  our  texts 
severally  illustrate  different  though  harmonious  : spects  or  phases  of  the 
same  thing. 

The  passage  now  before  us  — “I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men”  — is 
the  language  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  describes  the  method  by  which 
he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  great  office.  We  shall  prepare  ourselves 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


5 


to  understand  the  sense  and  appreciate  the  importance  of  what  is  here 
said  of  himself  by  tire  Apostle,  if  we  spend  a little  time  in  considering 
some  of  the  circumstances  under  which  the  writer  of  the  words  before  us 
was  raised  up  for  and  discharged  the  ministry  committed  unto  him. 

Paul,  though  of  Jewish  origin,  was  born  in  a Greek  city,  and  belonged 
to  a family  which  enjoyed  at  least  some  social  elevation.  lie  had  fami- 
liar intercourse,  in  his  early  years,  with  the  best  of  both  Jewish  and  Greek 
society : and  Greek  society  was  then  the  most  cultivated  in  the  world. 
At  his  conversion  he  lost  social  position,  and  was  brought  into  close 
affinity  with  those  who  occupied  humble  stations  in  life. 

And  varied  as  was  the  social,  not  less  so  was  the  moral  history  of  Paul. 
Naturally  impulsive,  and  in  his  early  years  violent  in  his  prejudices  and 
persecuting  in  his  spirit,  long  a Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,  he  became  at  his 
conversion  of  meek  and  gentle  mind,  a Christian  in  whom  was  no  guile. 

This  variety  of  intercourse  with  men  of  all  degrees,  and  this  variety  of 
experience  of  almost  all  possible  moral  states,  gave  the  Apostle  an  oppor- 
tunity to  know  human  nature  in  all  its  aspects ; to  realize  how  man  feels 
and  is  inclined  to  act  under  the  widely  different  influences  to  which,  in 
different  social  positions,  and  with  different  temperaments,  habits,  and 
education,  he  is  subjected.  He  knew,  by  experience  of  it,  what  tempta- 
tion to  arrogance  and  pride  the  rich  suffer ; he  knew,  by  contact  with  it, 
to  what  temptation  to  desponding  and  churlish  murmuring  the  poor  are 
exposed,  lie  knew,  by  trying  it,  how  hard  it  is  for  the  socially  elevated 
to  descend  to  the  humiliation  which,  to  follow  Jesus,  they  cannot  escape. 
He  knew,  by  daily  sight  of  it,  how  difficult  it  is  for  the  mind  unquick- 
ened  by  habits  of  thought,  to  waken  itself  to  the  activity  required  for  a 
heart-work.  He  knew  full  well  with  how  strong  a hand  prejudice  holds 
to  old  opinions,  and  with  what  power  some  forms  of  temptation  weigh 
with  even  a soul  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God.  He  knew  how  for- 
malism imagines  that  it  sees  too  much,  and  philosophy  too  little  spirit- 
ualism in  such  a system  as  that  of  which  Incarnate  Deity  is  the  centre. 
Jews,  Greeks,  Gentiles;  men  of  all  sorts  and  classes;  men  trained  in  all 
ways  and  in  no  ways ; religious  men,  sensual  meu,  fanatics,  and  philoso- 
phers, all  men — he  knew  them  all,  and  seemed  to  be  able,  as  I have  said, 
to  realize  the  -wants  and  measure  the  feelings  of  all. 

This  knowledge  of  human  nature  made  Paul  tolerant  towards  it.  He 
did  not  forget,  when  he  preached  the  gospel,  that  those  to  whom  he 
preached  were  almost  invariably  acted  on  by  influences  which  made  them 
averse  either  to  all  truth,  or  to  that  form  of  truth  on  which  he  was  inclined 
to  insist.  He  did  not  forget  that  the  Jew  w'as  in  bondage  to  prejudice, 
the  Greek  to  philosophy,  and  the  gross  Gentile  to  appetite.  He  did  not 
forget  that  the  Jew,  though  he  sought  salvation  by  Jesus,  might  yet 


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ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


entertain  strong  regard  for  the  temple  worship.  He  did  not  forget  that 
the  Greek,  though  bending  at  the  cross,  might  jet  be  disposed  to  ask  a 
solution  of  its  mystery.  He  did  not  forget  that  the  pagan  or  the  profli- 
gate, turned  to  the  better  way,  might  yet  go  on  feeble  knees  through  the 
strait  path.  Nay,  rather  remembering  the  frailties  and  the  perverse 
tendencies  of  human  nature,  he  bore  with  it  as  it  rejected  truth,  and  was 
patient  with  it  as  it  only  slowly  groped  its  way  out  into  the  light.  With 
the  penitent  Jew  he  prayed  and  vowed  in  the  Temple,  though  for  himself 
he  was  free  from  the  law  which  required  temple-service.  With  the  believing 
Greek,  he  reasoned  respecting  mysteries,  for  the  solution  of  which  he  was 
willing  to  wait  till,  in  the  light  of  eternity,  they  should  no  longer  be  mys- 
teries. To  the  poor  wretch,  just  escaped  from  the  power  of  lust,  he 
extended  his  own  strong  hand,  and  exclaiming,  “ I am  more  than  con- 
queror through  Him  that  loved  me  1”  besought  his  trembling  brother  to 
hope  for  the  same  glorious  conquest  in  which  he  rejoiced.  He  made  it 
his  business  to  strengthen  weak  hands  and  feeble  knees.  He  denied  him- 
self luxuries,  and  even  necessaries,  lest  by  the  use  of  even  that  which  his 
conscience  did  not  refuse  to  him,  he  might  hurt  the  yet  uninstructed  con- 
sciences of  others.  He  made  forbearance  to  the  frail  a cardinal  element 
in  his  scheme  of  Christian  duty;  and  no  precept  did  he  ever  utter  more 
fervently  than  he  did  that  in  which  he  said  to  his  Christian  brethren, 
“ We  then  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak.” 

If,  then,  we  are  to  give  weight  to  the  example  of  Paul,  we  must  infer 
that  he  who  has  the  true  evangelizing  spirit  will  be  tolerant  towards 
human  weakness,  and  will  pursue  a method  of  labor  which  will  make 
account  of  the  effect  on  the  moral  state  of  men,  of  temperament,  of  training, 
of  habit,  and  of  social  position.  He  will  remember,  in  urging  the  claims 
of  the  gospel,  that  every  man  has  frailties  and  besetments  peculiar  to 
himself,  and  that  he  is  in  bondage  to  some  influence  which,  perhaps  and 
probably,  has  no  weight  with  any  other  being.  He  will  remember  that 
old  notions  may  so  distemper  the  moral  eye,  that  truth  cannot  always 
be  readily  seen  by  it,  and  if  seen,  not  fully  understood ; and  that,  until 
there  is  prejudice,  or  some  other  form  of  selfishness,  there  is  no  sin  in  this 
distemper.  He  will  remember  that  impediments  to  acceptance  of  the 
truth  may  be  inseparable  from  the  social  affinities  of  those  for  whose 
good  he  labors,  lie  will  remember  that  the  uninitiated  and  the  novice 
cannot  see  duty  as  he,  a veteran,  does,  and  that  many  things  which  would 
be  entirely  sinful  in  him  might  be  no  offense  against  right  in  one  who 
knows  less  than  ho  does. 

And  if  for  the  individual  to  have  the  true  evangelizing  spirit,  he  must 
he  tolerant,  so,  for  an  institution,  a church,  a Missionary  Association  or 
Society  to  have  this  spirit,  it  must  bo  forbearing.  It  must  not  drive  its 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


7 


ponderous  wheels  over  institutions,  theories,  and  social  distinctions  which 
oppose  themselves  to  it,  but  must  rein  its  way  on  facile  axle  through  such 
a course  as  a kind  discrimination  between  ignorance  and  sin,  between 
essential  practice  and  non-essential  conduct  may  open  before  it. 

With  one  aspect  of  the  true  policy  of  evangelization  before  us,  let  us 
now  turn,  that  we  may  observe  another,  to  the  text  which  stands  second  at 
the  head  of  my  discourse. 

“Again,  tlie  devil  tnkctli  him  up  into  an  exceeding  high  mountain,  and  showeth 
him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  them,  aud  saith  unto  him,  All 
these  things  will  I give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me.  Then  saith 
Jesus  unto  him,  Get  thee  hence,  Satan  ; for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the 
Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve.” 

We  have  here  a drama.  The  actors  are,  on  the  one  hand,  the  father  of 
lies,  the  being  who  either  originates  or  accelerates  the  cheats,  the  oppres- 
sions, the  cruelties,  the  iniquities  of  all  forms,  which  blight  human  happi- 
ness, pervert  the  human  mind,  and  fit  the  immortal  soul  for  endless  woe : 
on  the  other,  the  being  on  whom  the  heavy  load  of  the  world’s  redemp- 
tion has  been  laid — who,  more  loving  than  an  earthly  father,  and 
more  tender  than  a mother,  looks  on  no  human  woe  without  compassion, 
and  on  no  sorrow  without  desiring  to  relieve  it;  the  being  who  counted 
it  no  grief  to  try  the  temptations,  the  afflictions,  the  pains  of  men,  and  to 
encounter  the  bitterest  of  suffering,  ay,  death , that  those  who  hated  him 
might  be  saved.  On  a height  overlooking  the  world,  these  persons,  he 
who  curses  and  he  who  blesses  our  race,  confront  each  other. 

The  Arch-tempter,  glorying  in  his  power  and  in  the  mischiefs  of  which 
he  has  been  the  author,  points  his  companion  to  the  evils  which  the  world 
endures  ; the  selfishness,  the  malice,  the  bitter  strife,  the  woes,  the  personal 
griefs,  the  bodily  pains,  the  liungerings,  the  thirstings,  the  social  and 
moral  calamities,  the  arrogance  of  place,  the  depressions  of  the  poor,  the 
bereavements  which  extort  a wail  from  the  captive  in  the  cell,  and  as  well 
from  the  king  on  the  throne;  the  opposition  to  truth,  and  the  hostility  to 
God  which  deface  the  fair  earth,  and  deform  the  image  of  the  Most  High. 

Saddening  is  the  sight  to  the  lowly  and  loving  Man  of  Sorrows.  Not 
more  painful  is  the  sight  to  the  parent  of  the  anguish  of  his  first-born  and 
only  child  which  struggles  in  the  embrace  of  a cruel  death.  Yes,  saddening 
indeed,  and  the  more  afflictive  to  him,  because  he  knows  that  the  end  of 
these  sins  and  griefs  and  woes  is  not  yet ; that  generation  after  generation 
of  their  offspring,  in  long  procession,  must  still,  through  scores  of  centu- 
ries, traverse  the  path  of  human  history  : the  more  saddening  too,  because 
he  knows  that  in  conflict  with  these  enemies  of  good,  the  disciples  who 
shall  take  up  the  peace-dispensing  gospel  he  has  come  to  declare,  must 
bear  trials  from  which  his  own  heroic  soul,  armed  with  highest  powers, 
cannot  but  recoil. 


8 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


The  survey  completed,  the  Deceiver  says  to  the  other,  “Al!  these  things 
will  I give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me.”  Ah,  is  not  this 
a tempting  offer  ? The  mastery  of  the  world,  the  deliverance  of  that 
world  from  temptation,  from  sorrow,  from  discord,  from  physical  and 
moral  evils;  and  the  rescue  of  the  saints  in  all  ages  from  the  reproaches, 
the  bufferings,  the  martyrdoms  they  must  experience  if  Satan  remains 
supreme ; all  these  advantages  to  be  gained  by  just  one  act,  a compromise- 
act,  an  act  which  no  eyes  but  those  of  them  who  are  parties  to  it  shall  see, 
and  which  need  never  again  be  repeated.  Will  not  the  Saviour  accept 
the  offer?  Nay!  Hear  his  indignant  reply ! “Get  thee  hence,  Satan; 
for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt 
thou  serve.”  With  such  emphatic  rebuke  does  he  meet  the  offer  made 
him,  and  with  that  one  sentence  does  he  declare  that  not  even  to  save  the 
world,  the  object  on  which  his  heart  is  most  set,  will  he  pursue  a course 
which  will  either  involve  himself  in  sin  or  indicate  the  least  tolerance 
towards  the  sins  of  others. 

Here,  then,  we  have  disclosed  another  of  the  aspects  of  the  policy  of 
true  evangelization,  viz.:  that  it  will  for  no  consideration,  and  however 
much  it  may  be  incliribd  to  accommodate  itself  to  the  opinions  and  non- 
essential  habits  and  customs  of  men  — that  it  will  for  no  consideration 
make  any  compromise  with,  nor  any  concession  to  sin  ; that  not  sapping 
and  mining,  but  outspoken  and  inflexible  hostility,  will  be  the  style  of  its 
opposition  to  all  evident  unrighteousness. 

Leaving  here  the  text  before  us,  and  taking  up  the  inference  which  has 
been  drawn  from  it,  I may  remark  upon  it,  that  evangelization  must 
always  act  in  distinct  hostility  to  all  sin,  and  with  no  tolerance  for,  or  dis- 
position to  accommodate  itself  to  any  sin,  or, 

1.  It  cannot  claim  that  it  represents  Christianity.  Christianity  makes 
no  provision  for  sin,  nor  are  the  terras  on  which  it  offers  its  blessings 
indulgent  towards  the  least  sin;  and  if  Christianity  sternly  discounte- 
nances all  sin,  shall  a church,  for  instance,  which,  by  a timid  use  of  her 
discipline,  shelters  any  known  iniquity  ; or  shall  a religious  newspaper 
which,  by  studied  coldness  towards  reformatory  enterprises,  gives  virtual 
countenance  to  the  sin  to  be  reformed  ; or  shall  a religious  Publishing 
Society,  which,  pliant  towards  strong-handed  vices,  garbles  the  works  of 
the  honest  dead — I will  not  say  to  suit  the  wishes  of,  but  for  the  purpose 
of  reaching  the  corrupt  living;  or  shall  a Missionary  Society,  which,  by 
a time-serving  policy,  really  lends  its  influence  to  the  support  of  wrongs 
which  humanity  hates — shall  either  of  these  agencies  call  itself  an  instru- 
ment of  Christian  evangelization  ? Nay,  surely,  if  there  is  any  thing  in 
a name. 

2.  Evangelization  must  always  act  in  distinct  hostility  to  all  sin,  or  it 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


0 


can  accomplish  no,  or  if  any,  no  good  results.  Policy  which  is  timorous 
and  time-serving  has  no  moral  power.  Pursued  by  unscrupulous  Jesuits, 
it  may  seemingly  convert  heathen  by  nations,  and  bring  kings  to  receive 
holy  water  at  its  summary  baptism  ; but  it  never  really  converts  the 
heart.  It  cajoles  the  passions,  but  does  not  move  the  will.  Nay,  it 
makes  men  scorn  itself,  and  loathe  the  doctrine  or  system  of  which  it  is  the 
vehicle.  Leave  condemnation  of  oppression  out  of  the  gospel  you  carry 
to  him  who  holds  his  fellows  in  unrequited  bondage,  and  will  he  respect, 
or  admire,  or  truly  embrace  that  gospel  ? Not  if  he  has  in  him  a sense 
of  the  first  principles  of  right,  of  justice,  of  obligation. 

Indeed,  it  is  only  aggressive  policy,  policy  which,  awed  neither  by  the 
standing,  the  wealth,  nor  the  threats  of  the  transgressor,  says  boldly  to 
him,  “ Repent  of  Sin  oh  perish,”  which  is  likely  to  bring  him  to  exclaim, 
as  David,  convicted  by  the  prophet’s  pointed  parable  and  his  bold  charge, 
“Thou  art  the  man,”  exclaimed,  “ I have  sinned  against  the  Lord.’’ 

True,  a timorous  evangelizing  policy  may  sometimes  produce  results 
which  promise  well ; but  the  end  of  those  results  shows  that  evil  keeps 
growth  with,  if  it  does  not  outgrow  the  good  produced.  Send  mission- 
aries to  a tribe  or  nation  of  pagan  slaveholders;  hesitate  about  requiring 
the  missionaries  to  reprove  the  peculiar  sin  of  the  people,  and  let  the 
missionaries  hesitate  about  doing  so;  and  though  idols  shall  be  given  to 
the  bats ; and  civilization  develop  a social  state  and  political  institutions ; 
and  though  industry  shall  turn  hunting-grounds  into  fruitful  fields,  and 
religious  worship  be  offered  in  temples  crowning  hills  on  which  pagan 
holocausts  once  smoked,  yet  will  the  civilization  soon  show  itself  to  be  a 
brutal  state,  and  the  political  institutions  prove  themselves  only  perpetual 
supports  of  monstrous  wrong.  Read  in  the  horrible  pro-slavery  laws  of 
the  so-called  civilized  and  christianized  Choctaws,  the  indications  of  the 
final  issue  of  an  evangelism  which  temporizes  with  sin. 

And  it  is  further  to  be  noticed,  that  it  is  generally,  if  not  always  true, 
that  even  while  temporizing  evangelization  is  rewarded  with  partial  good, 
the  policy  employed  exerts  a fatal  reflex  influence  on  those  who  employ 
it,  and  through  them  on  others.  Look,  for  illustration  of  this  statement, 
to  the  history  of  the  leading  events  which  have  transpired  in  this  country 
within  a few  years.  Chief  among  these  events  have  been  the  annexation 
of  Texas,  as  a slave  State,  to  our  federal  Union  ; the  waging,  in  behalf  of 
slavery,  of  a wicked  and  almost  wholly  unprovoked  war  with  Mexico ; and 
the  attempt  by  Congress,  in  the  passage  of  the  celebrated  Compromise 
measures,  to  make  the  North  for  ever  subservient  to  the  slave  power. 

Now,  by  what  process  has  this  series  of  events,  culminating  in  the 
Fugitive-Slave  Bill — and  what  a climax  of  villany ! — I ask,  by  what 
process  this  series  of  events,  all  designed  to  favor  an  infamous  institution, 


10 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


has  been  brought  about  ? Brought  about,  be  it  observed,  in  the  face  of  a 
national  conscience  which,  even  in  the  days  of  Madison  and  Jefferson,  was 
strong  enough  to  save  our  Constitution  the  disgrace  of  saying  one  word 
which  should  assume  that  slavery  is  a legal  institution.  By  what  pro- 
cess ? Let  the  history  of  evangelizing  instrumentalities  answer.  In  the 
time  named,  one  leading  religious  Publishing  Society,  the  organ  of  a 
union  of  denominations,  and  sustained  by  prominent  ministers  and  lay- 
men, has  seemingly,  if  not  evidently,  at  the  instance  of  slavery-propa- 
gandists, coolly  condemned  to  withdrawal  from  circulation  a little  book 
which,  with  much  merit,  had  no  fault  except  that  it  says : 

“ What  is  a slave,  Mother?”  asked  Mary.  “ Is  it  a servant  ?” 

“ Yes,”  replied  her  mother ; “ slaves  are  servants,  for  they  work  for 
their  masters,  and  wait  on  them;  but  they  are  not  hired  servants  ; but  are 
bought  and  sold  like  beasts,  and  have  nothing  but  what  their  masters  choose 
to  give  them.  They  are  obliged  to  work  very  hard,  and  sometimes  their 
masters  use  them  cruelly,  beat  them,  and  starve  them,  and  kill  them ; for 
they  have  nobody  to  help  them.  Sometimes  they  are  chained  together,  and 
driven  about  like  beasts.” 

Another  more  prominent  Publishing  Society  has,  like  its  fellow,  either 
bowing  before  or  subservient  to  our  peculiar  institution,  while  publishing 
treatises  on  the  various  sins  and  crimes  which  come  within  the  compass 
of  human  guilt,  constantly  failed  to  rebuke,  and  even  left  wholly  out  of 
sight  the  sin  of  holding  men  in  slavery,  a sin  known  by  it  to  be  indulged 
in  by  a large  class  of  those  who  read  its  publications ; and  has  added  to 
what  seems  like  sycophancy  in  its  course  by  expunging  from  the  stand- 
ard works  issued  from  its  press  such  passages  as  might  be  obnoxious  to 
slaveholders. 

And  meantime,  a leading  Missionary  Society  has  capped  the  volcanic 
fires  of  earnest  desire  for  the  relief  of  the  bondman,  kindled  in  many 
Christian  hearts,  with  the  truly  extinguishing  doctrine  that  slavery  is  an 
organic  sin,  and  therefore  not  to  be  treated  as  one  would  treat  sins  not 
organic,  such  as  drunkenness  and  falsehood. 

These  things — all  measures  of  evangelizing  policy — have  occurred  : and 
what  effect  have  they  had  ? Making  those  who  were  participants  in 
them,  and  those  who  were  subject  to  the  influence  of  the  participants, 
familiar  with,  and  complacent  towards,  compromising  and  temporizing 
with  sin.  AVhat  effect  could  they  have,  other  than  such  a debasement  of 
the  religious  mind  of  the  country,  and  then,  of  course,  of  the  politics  of 
the  country,  (for  religion  has  hitherto  been  a check  on  our  politics,)  that 
the  audacious  legislation  which  enacted  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill  was  made 
possible,  and  was  tamely  acquiesced  in  by  not  a small  portion  of  the  pro- 
fessedly religious  men  of  the  land. 

A temporizing  evangelization,  then,  by  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  our 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


11 


nature,  not  only  fails  of  its  professed  object,  but  recoils  in  evils  not  a few 
on  those  who  undertake  it,  and  often  on  the  Church  and  world  at  large. 

And  I need  hardly  add,  for  a third  remark  respecting  the  policy  of 
evangelization  which  compromises  with  sin,  that  it  cannot  have  Divine 
approval.  Surely,  the  Being  who  struck  with  instant  death  the  man 
who  thoughtlessly  lifted  a hand  to  steady  the  tottering  ark,  is  not  likely 
to  be  complacent  towards  an  individual  or  an  institution  guilty  of  tem- 
porizing with  esil  that  good  may  come. 

Here  resting  this  train  of  thought,  I may  properly  repeat  the  inference 
drawn  from  our  second  text,  that  the  true  evangelizing  spirit  will,  for  no 
consideration,  make  any  compromise  with  or  concession  to  siu. 

The  two  aspects  of  the  proper  method  of  evangelization  are  now  before 
us ; and  with  our  picture  complete  we  find  that  in  this  method  are  joined 
toleration  toward  the  ignorance  and  sympathy  with  the  trials  of  men,  with 
undeviating,  open  hostility  to  sin. 

And  now,  brethren,  can  the  importance  of  making  evangelizing  policy 
embrace  the  two  elements  so  frequently  named  on  this  occasion  be  too 
strongly  emphasized,  or  can  those  who  love  truth  be  complained  of  if  they 
strenuously  insist  that  the  work  of  saving  souls,  whether  at  home  or 
abroad,  shall  be  so  conducted  that  while  the  weakness  of  man  shall  not 
be  rudely  assailed,  his  sins  shall  not  pass  unreproved  ? The  question  of 
course  answers  itself. 

It  was,  if  I mistake  not,  with  an  earnest  and  devout  desire  that  Christ- 
ianity might  be  rescued  from  the  corruption  to  which,  what  seemed  to 
many  the  time-serving  policy  of  certain  agencies  and  enterprises  under- 
taken in  her  name  were  likely  to  subject  her,  that  its  founders  originated 
the  Society  which  now  celebrates  its  Seventh  Anniversary. 

A brief  review  of  the  circumstances  under  which  the  American  Mis- 
sionary Association  was  established  will  not  be  out  of  place  here. 

In  the  course  of  the  agitations  which  attended  the  anti-slavery  move- 
ments of  1837  and  onward,  many  thinking  men  through  the  country  were 
led  to  feel  that  their  2^olilical  alliances  were  such  as  made  them  parties 
to  the  support  of  slavery.  Doing  works  meet  for  repentance  in  their 
political  associations,  they  were  naturally  led  to  look  next  at  the  moral 
aspects  of  their  religious  connections;  and  the  result  of  the  inquiries  on 
this  point  which  became  somewhat  prevalent  was,  that  a forward  step, 
especially  in  the  matter  of  relations  to  missionary  enterprises,  w’as  also 
necessary.  The  conviction  ripening  into  action,  its  fruit  was  the  follow- 
ing call. 

“ To  the  Friends  of  Bible  Missions  in  the  State  of  New- York. 

“ Brethren, — The  undersigned  are  friends  of  Freedom  apd  of  Missions. 
Heretofore  we  have  acted  in  the  support  of  Missions  through  the  Arneri- 


12 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE 


can  Board  and  kindred  Associations.  Numbeis  of  us  still  do  so.  But 
we  need  not  inform  you  that  latterly  strange  things  have  come  to  the 
public  knowledge.  Slaveholders  are  in  churches  planted  and  sustained 
by  the  American  Board.  They  are  there  approved  and  regular  members. 
They  have  been  welcomed  to,  and  continued  in  them,  without  question, 
without  reproof,  without  discipline.  This  has  been  done  for  more  than 
one  quarter  of  a century,  and  is  still  done;  and  now  that  the  thing  has  at 
last  come  to  be  generally  known,  the  Board,  and  those  who  direct  its 
affairs,  excuse,  justify,  and  declare  it  apostolic  and  scriptural.  They  com- 
mend the  missionaries  who  have  done  and  still  do  it,  as  competent  and 
faithful,  and  tell  them,  in  terms,  that  they  cannot  advise,  much  less  re- 
quire them  to  change  their  proceeding.  For  aught  that  appears,  the 
gospel  we  are  to  propagate  through  this  agency  is  to  tolerate,  baptize, 
and  welcome  slavery  to  the  Church,  wherever  it  meets  it  in  all  the  earth. 
Caste,  polygamy,  and  other  social  wrongs  are  to  have  a like  allowance, 
admission,  and  sanction.  And  they  who  would  have  it  otherwise  are 
assured  that  they  transcend  ‘God’s  method,’  and  have  not  learned  their 
‘ procedure  from  the  Bible.’  ..... 

“ Brethren,  the  undersigned  invite  all  the  friends  of  freedom  and  of 
missions,  who  have  heretofore  cooperated  with  the  American  Board  and 
kindred  Associations,  or  who  now  do  so,  to  meet  in  Convention  at  Syra- 
cuse, on  Wednesday,  the  1 8th  of  February  next,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sidering generally  the  whole  subject  of  the  Bible  methods  of  propagat- 
ing Uie  gospel ; and  particularly  for  the  purpose  of  putting  forth  such  a 
remonstrance  against  the  practice  referred  to  in  the  mission  churches,  and 
the  positions  taken  in  justification  of  it,  as  the  cause  of  Bible  missions  de- 
mands ; with  the  consideration  of  such  practical  measures  as  may  seem 
best  to  give  practical  effect  to  the  same.” 

In  answer  to  this  call,  a large  convention,  composed  in  no  small  mea- 
sure of  men  eminent  for  ability  to  comprehend  truth  and  for  devotion  to 
duty,  came  together. 

During  the  session  of  the  convention,  the  policy  of  the  Missionary 
Board  with  which  most  of  the  delegates  had  been  in  the  habit  of  acting 
was  illustrated  by  a quotation  from  one  of  its  own  Annual  Reports,  the 
Report*  presented  at  the  meeting  held  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in  the  autumn 
of  1845. 

* This  Report  was  called  out  by  the  presentation  to  the  Board  at  a previous  ses- 
sion of  several  petitions,  asking  for  some  action  on  the  part  of  the  Board,  which 
should  silence  the  charges  of  a disposition  to  be  time-serving  with  respect  to  its 
relations  to  slavery,  which  were  current  in  some  circles.  The  spirit  of  the  Report 
(certainly  to  a degree)  embraced  the  doctrine  that  slave  holding,  as  such,  is  not 
to  be  treated  in  the  matter  of  religious  instruction,  admonition,  nnd  discipline,  as 
are  drunkenness,  falsehood,  nnd  gaming. 

The  quotation  was  adduced  ns  a fair  exponent  of  the  views  held  by  the  lending 
officers  of  the  Board  with  respect  to  some  of  the  functions  and  methods  of  evan- 
gelization, and  is  in  these  words : 

“ But  slavery  is  not  the  only  social  wrong  to  be  met  in  the  progress  of  the  mis- 
sionary work,  and  to  which  the  principles  which  are  adopted  in  prosecuting  that 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


13 


When  this  frank  and  distinct  avowal  of  the  policy  of  the  American 
Board,  with  respect  to  “ organic  ” sins,  was  produced  in  the  convention  to 
which  I have  referred,  and  when  it  was  proved  by  reference  to  the  in- 
structions given  by  the  Prudential  Committee  to  missionaries  set  apart  to 
labor  among  the  oriental  churches,  instructions  which  charged  its  servants 
to  make  no  assault  on  the  rites  and  ceremonies  which  the  very  missionaries 
thus  charged  have  described  as  being  “grossly  idolatrous,”  and  as  consisting 
in  part  of  homage  to  the  image  of  the  “ immaculate  mother  of  God  ;”  and 
when  it  was  further  proved,  by  reference  to  documents  showing  that  the 
Committee  had  refused  to  allow  missionaries  to  organize  churches  for  the 
shelter  and  culture  of  converts  in  t^ie  Ea<t,  who  dared  not  subject  them- 
selves to  the  perverting  influences  which  abounded  in  their  national 
churches ; I say,  when  it  was  proved  in  this  way  that  the  Board  was  dis- 
posed to  reduce  its  conservative  theory  to  constant  practice,  and  that 
probablv  nothing  would  avail  to  turn  the  Board  from  its  sapping  and 
mining  policy,  the  majority  of  those  present  felt  that  they  could  no  longer 


work  must  probably  be  applied.  There  are  the  castes  of  India,  deeply  aud  inve- 
terately  inwrought  in  the  very  texture  of  society,  causing  to  the  raas9  of  the  people 
hereditary  and  deep  degradation,  leading  to  the  most  inhuman  and  con»emp’uou3 
feelings  and  conduct  in  social  life,  and  presenting  the  most  formidable  barriers  to 
everv  species  of  improvement.  There  are  also  the  unrestrained  exactions , made  in 
the  form  of  revenue,  or  of  military  or  other  service,  connected  with  a species  of 
feudalism,  prevailing  in  many  unenlightened  communities,  which  are  most  unright- 
eous in  their  character  and  paralyzing  in  their  influence,  and  cause  unlimited  distress 
to  individuals  and  families.  There  are  also  those  various  forms  and  degrees  of  op- 
pression, whether  of  laws  or  of  usage,  prevailing  under  the  arbitrary  governments 
which  bear  sway  over  the  larger  part  of  earth’s  surface.” 

‘‘Should  it  be  found,  as  the  result  of  experience,  that  souls  among  the  heathen 
are  in  fact  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  before  they  are  freed  from  all  participa- 
tion in  these  social  and  moral  evils,  and  that  convincing  evidence  can  be  given  that 
they  are  so  regenerated,  then,  may  not  the  master  and  the  slave,  the  ruler  and  the 
subject,  giving  such  evidence  of  spiritual  renovation,  be  all  gathered  into  the  same 
fold  of  Christ  ? And  may  they  not  all  there  and  in  this  manner,  under  proper 
teaching,  learn  the  great  lesson,  (so  difficult  for  partially  sanctifled  men  to  ieain,) 
that  in  Christ  Jesus  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  neither  bond  nor  free,  but  that 
all  are  one  in  Him?  And  may  they  not,  under  these  influences,  have  effectually 
nurtured  in  them  those  feelings  of  brotherly  love,  and  that  regard  for  each  other’s 
rights  and  welfare,  in  which  alone  is  found  the  remedy  for  all  such  evils?  Under 
such  influences,  may  not  the  master  be  prepared  to  break  the  bonds  of  the  slave, 
and  the  oppressive  ruler  led  to  dispense  justice  to  the  subject,  and  the  proud  Brah- 
min fraternally  to  embrace  the  man  of  low  caste  ; and  each  to  do  it  cheerfully,  be- 
cause it  is  humane  and  right,  and  because  they  are  all  children  of  the  great  house- 
hold of  God?  By  such  influences,  mainly,  is  not  the  great  moral  transformation  to 
be  wrought  in  the  master  and  the  ruler,  in  the  bondman  and  the  oppressed,  all-im- 
portant to  both,  and  the  only  sure  guaranty  for  permanent  improvement  in  the  so- 
cial character  aud  condition  of  either  ?’’ 

The  reader  is  asked  to  consider  whether  this  passage  does  not  savor  strongly  of 
those  “ half-covenant”  doctriues  which  once  infected  many  of  thechurches  in  New- 
England,  and  which  led  to  the  dismission  of  the  elder  President  Edwards,  who  had 
resolutely  withstood  them. 


14 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


fraternize  with  the  Society,  though  they  had  fondly  loved  it,  long  prayed 
for  it,  and  rejoiced  in  its  success,  as  the  veteran  rejoices  in  the  success  of 
the  leader  he  has  followed  through  many  long  campaigns.* 

The  feeling  thus  estranged  from  the  American  Board,  soon  found 
opportunity  to  take  distinct  and  working  form.  A local  committee  which 
had  undertaken  to  send  the  gospel  by  the  medium  of  the  rescued  Amis- 
tad  captives  to  inner  Africa;  another  committee,  which  was  maintaining 
missions  in  Jamaica;  and  the  Western  Evangelical  Missionary  Society  of 
Ohio,  finding  that  their  work  could  be  accomplished  by  an  extension  of 
their  plans,  gave  up  their  organizations,  and  accepted  the  invitation  of  the 
American  Missionary  Association  to  be  merged  in  that  Society,  which 
had  been  recently  formed  by  those  who  had  expressed  their  views  of 
Bible  Missions  in  the  Syracuse  Convention. 

Anxious  to  guard  the  great  idea  of  Christian  missions  which  they 
sought  to  incorporate  into  their  new  organization,  assiduously  as  pos- 
sible, the  founders  of  the  Association  threw  the  gates  of  member- 
ship ODen  to  none  who  were  not  evangelical  in  their  religious  belief  and 
moral  in  their  conduct ; and  rejecting  the  close-corporation  form,  made 
the  doings  of  the  officers  of  the  Association  subject  to  the  scrutiny  and 
legislative  action  of  the  members. 

Thus  originated  and  thus  constituted,  the  Association  has  been  in  the 
field  seven  years,  and  in  that  time  has  pushed  its  outposts  to  almost  even- 
quarter  of  the  globe.  It  is  represented  by  an  effective  force  of  Christian 
laborers  in  Siam,  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  in  Africa,  in  Jamaica,  among 
the  Indians  of  the  far  North-west,  the  Chinese  in  California,  the  people  of 
the  destitute  portions  of  the  western  and  north-western  States,  and  two  of 
the  slave  States.  Operating  through  a territory  so  wide,  and  tested 
under  every  variety  of  circumstances,  the  Society  has  had  opportunity  to 
determine  whether  the  sapping  and  mining  or  the  uncompromising  is  the 
better  policy  ; and  the  friends  of  the  cause  surely  have  occasion  to  rejoice 


* Lest  my  recital  of  history  should  convey  a wrong  impression,  I must  here  say: 
1.  That  those  who  in  the  Syracuse  Convention  complained  of  the  action  of  the 
Board,  did  not  undertake  to  determine  the  moral  intention  of  those  who  devised  and 
executed  the  policy  complained  of.  It  was  the  policy  itself  to  which  they  objected  ; 
and  they  evidently  felt  that  if  they  were  sure  that  the  policy  originated  in  a pure 
intention,  they  were  not  at  liberty  to  uphold  it.  2.  That  since  the  time  the  Board 
published  its  intention  to  pursue  the  conservative  policy  with  regard  to  Missions  in 
the  East,  of  which  complaint  was  made  in  tho  Syracuse  Convention,  it  has  in  prac- 
tice abandoned  that  policy,  and  set  up  churches  for  the  enfolding  of  converts  from 
the  dead  forms  of  the  Greek  and  other  oriental  churches;  but  whether  or  not.  this 
change  was  brought  about  by  the  pressure  of  a disaffection  with  its  course,  which 
cost  the  Board  the  loss  of  at  least  one  of  its  many  excellent  missionaries,  is  not  for 
me  to  say. 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


15 


that  thus  far  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Association  to  accommo- 
date itself  either  to  organic  iniquities  or  to  private  vices  has  come  to  light. 
May  the  day  when  the  Society  shall  be  complacent  to  evil  that  good  may 
come,  never  be ! 

I cannot  close  ray  discourse  without  applying  the  subject  I have 
endeavored  to  illustrate.  1.  By  charging  my  hearers  to  remember  that 
duty  to  aid  in  Christianizing  the  world  is  not  met  simply  by  association 
with  and  labor  in  behalf  of  some  missionary  enterprise,  but  that  the 
obligation  to  which  I refer  as  imperatively  demands  alliance  with  the 
right  kind  of  evangelizing  agencies,  as  it  requires  any  endeavor.  This  is 
so  obviously  an  inference  from  the  topics  we  have  considered,  that  I need 
not  illustrate  or  expand  it.  But  let  me  press  the  point.  Let  me  ask 
those  who  hear  whether  they  look  with  careful  and  conscientious  scrutiny 
to  the  policy  of  the  evangelizing  agencies  with  which  they  are  connected  ? 
Do  they  see  to  it  that  the  moral  support  of  their  sympathies  and  prayers, 
and  the  material  aid  of  their  contributions,  withheld  from  institutions 
which,  by  temporizing,  bring  shame  on  the  gospel,  are  given  to  agencies 
which,  by  aggressive  and  progressive  fidelity  to  truth,  dignify  the  gospel 
of  Him  who  would  not,  even  to  save  a world,  concede  to  even  a single  sin  ? 
Say,  friend,  does  the  constraint  of  social  relations,  or  habit,  or  thought- 
lessness wed  you  to  an  organization,  the  policy  of  which  savors  of  com- 
promising rather  than  Christian  honesty?  or  does  truth  so  have  its  place 
in  your  affections,  your  principles,  and  your  conduct,  that  you  fraternize 
only  that  which,  aiming  to  do  God’s  work,  aims  also  to  do  that  work  in 
God’s  way : the  way  of  forbearance  with  what  can  be  borne  with,  but  of 
hostility  to  sin,  which  can  never  claim  forbearance  ? 

Ponder  the  question,  brethren,  for  it  may  be  that  some  who  have  not 
thought  themselves  wanting  in  the  missionary  spirit  have  yet  need  to 
commence  the  true  evangelizing  practice. 

But  let  me  apply  my  subject,  2.  By  calling  on  those  who  sustain  the 
Association  for  which  I speak,  to  keep  steadily  in  view  the  great  princi- 
ples which  should  underlie  the  policy  of  an  organization  for  the  propaga- 
tion of  Christian  truth ; and  to  see  to  it  that  their  Society,  temperate, 
kind,  and  tolerant  toward  those  who  are  not  friends  to  it,  and  also 
toward  the  world  it  seeks  to  save,  is  yet  positively , not  by  compulsion, 
but  by  loving,  free  choice,  hostile  to  iniquity  in  all  forms,  to  sins  organic 
and  to  sins  not  organic,  to  public  sins  and  to  private  sins. 

But  let  me,  in  final  application  of  my  subject,  remind  my  brethren  of 
the  Society,  that  it  is  not  by  public  action  only  or  chiefly  that  radical 
gospel  institutions  can  be  sustained.  The  instrumentalities  which  with 
meekness  but  with  boldness,  with  gentleness  but  with  fearless  avowal  of 
truth,  do  God’s  work  in  the  right  way,  must  be  rooted  in  the  steadfast 


16 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


faith,  devout  prayers,  and  irreproachable  lives  of  those  who  maintain  them. 
In  no  other  soil,  not  even  in  the  fervor  of  fidelity  of  their  representatives 
in  the  great  field,  can  they  find  nutriment.  Consider  then,  brethren,  our 
obligation ! Reflect,  that  if  our  secret  purposes,  our  hidden  affections, 
our  private  conduct,  our  state  and  standing  in  God’s  sight  are  contrary 
to  truth,  no  public  endeavors  we  can  make  will  avail  to  the  support  ot 
truly  gospel  missions. 

How  shall  our  brethren  in  Africa  have  the  heart  to  stand  unflinching  y 
before  the  strong-handed  wrongs  they  witness,  or  how  shall  our  mission- 
aries in  the  territory  of  Southern  slavery  be  nerved  for  their  trying  work, 
if  only  the  money  and  resolutions  of  those  who  are  themselves  la  prac- 
tice temporizers,  sustain  them  ? 

Let  us  carry  the  thought  which  this  question  cannot  but  awaken  in 
our  hearts,  to  our  homes;  and  impelled  by  this  momentous  motive,  let 
us  do  well  our  daily  duty,  and  fill  with  a devotion  which  never  tires  of 
prayer,  and  with  a labor  for  souls  which  is  never  weary,  the  measure  of 
our  obligation  to  our  Maker  and  to  man.  And  if  such  is  our  devotion, 
and  such  are  our  lives,  then  will-  not  our  missions  represent  in  vain  the 
truths  we  practise.  They  will  succeed  ; and  our  home  religion  will  send 
through  them,  insignificant  though  they  may  appear  to  human  eyes,  a 
fullness  of  blessing  even  to  distant  nations ; as  when  with  a tidal  wave, 
which  hardly  ripples  on  the  surface  of  the  deep,  the  swelling  flood  of 
ocean  fills  with  its  affluence  every  depression  of  the  indented  shore. 


